Josef Berg.Josef Berg was a very sharp solitary on the Czech musical scene of this period and his early death made him a legendary and cult future. He was not only a composer, but also a prolific writer, playwright, critic and commentator--even through these latter areas of his work has a mostly private character and were rarely published. For younger generations he became the embodiment of an uncompromising artist who was, above all, searching for authenticity of creation. The "realty" of Josef Berg's life was only the visible tip of the iceberg tip of the iceberg n. pl. tips of the iceberg A small evident part or aspect of something largely hidden: afraid that these few reported cases of the disease might only be the tip of the iceberg. . It was actually his dreams and unrealised plans which were at the core of his life. His inner life flourished through creativity and he experienced creative ecstasies Yet he disperesed his energy into so many different areas resulting in lack of completion of most of his work Expressing himself through writing was definitely easier for him and by all accounts also more pleasant. He pretended to compose when his mother was around--he bashed nonsense on the piano while making literary notes. He dreamed about great success a complex work and pictured himself as an admired hero as well as a leading personality of his day. However by comparison with (for example) his contemporary Boris Vian Boris Vian (March 10, 1920 – June 23, 1959) was a French polymath: writer, poet, musician, singer, translator, critic, actor, inventor and engineer. He is best remembered for novels such as L’Écume des jours and L'Arrache-cœur whose lifetime was even shorter Berg was not able to realise these "parallel lives" and most of his work was left as incomplete sketches. Josef Bergis life is linked with the town of Brno here he was born and it was here that he worked. He was active in several circles--musical literary theatrical--and even though hea had rather modest even shy manners he succeeded to a large extent in influencing the cultural atmosphere of Brno. He introduced some principles and characteristics that took root and became a part of the Brno mentality as well as the stylistic foundation of later. Brno artists many of whom were unfamiliar with Berg. His influence went well beyond the field of music itself and became a phenomenon defining the general cultural climate. Irony self-irony, inclination towards quaintness eccentric links. Jumbles of styles specific humour primitivistic wordings astute philosophic covert meanings unexpected poetry and unintentional charm all these characteristics are still found today in the work of Brno artists. The hidder roots of multilateral influences can be found in the work of Josef Berg in his day. Josef Berg was a big name in a rtistic circles. Yet he was not that well known. After his death his work was rarely mentioned Nevertheless he was not forgotten and even in years highly unfriendly to contemporary music. Bergis work was occasionally performed in 1988 a collection of his texts was published. His personality must have been charismatic in a way because there has always been someone interested in his legacy. His work, to a large extent enigmatic has attracted and called for research. By comparison with other non-living protagonists of Czech contemporary music attention given to Berg has in fact been the most extensive. The great breadth and variety of his work definitely played a part in ensuring this continuous interest--his activities ranged from composition and theatre projects to intimate poems and newspaper columns. For this rich scope of creativity and for not falling into easy categorization with current trends. Berg is not classifiable, and thus still interesting provocative and inspiring to this day Presently kept at the Music Department of the Moravian Land Museum in Brno Bergis legacy so far has not been researched and there are many blank areas. We have no idea what could be the content of the collection of his letters and texts since his mother sealed them and they cannot be opened until the year 2021. However, it must be noted that even his published works also generate enigmas. Josef Berg was born March 8, 1927, to Josef and Marie Berg both office workers. He spent his early childhood in public housing whose courtyard was a safe place for children's games. Here he experienced his first companionship and the atmosphere of a certain soldarity among different generations of peculiar, original mostly proletarian pro·le·tar·i·an adj. Of, relating to, or characteristic of the proletariat. n. A member of the proletariat; a worker. [From Latin pr types. When he was five years old he moved with his parents to a small villa in an outlying and more peaceful part of Brno. He suddenly lost his brother and was left an only child. Berg enclosed by this new, more comfortable yet isolated environment, experienced nostalgia for live interpersonal contact for the colourful variety of a wider fellowship a feeling that would accompany him to the end of his life. As a schoolboy, his hobby was reading and he covered an enormous range including in particular authors whose works convey anxiety such as Dostojevskii Flaubert H.G. Wells and Franz Kafka Noun 1. Franz Kafka - Czech novelist who wrote in German about a nightmarish world of isolated and troubled individuals (1883-1924) Kafka . He also read a lot of adventure and trash literature. It was during this time that his musical talent was discovered supported by his mother whose own artistic inclination had been frustrated by difficult life circumstances. Berg's crucial moment came sometime during his studies in high school when he and Bruno Cempirek his schoolmate established. "New Humour as they named their particular mode of expression. These adolescent commentaries on life and his juvenile literary attempts developed into a style in which Berg truly found himself. The "New Humor" was a specific congiomerate of disparate influences--From Mellests and Chaplin's films through Flauberts Bouvard et Pecuchet to dialect localisms of suburban people Berg and Cempirek wrote to each other and collaborated in this style which Berg in particular viewed as a universal method of creation. It must have been a determining life experience for an adolescent to discover his own way of viewing the world All his life Berg would return and reattach Re`at`tach´ v. t. 1. To attach again. to this source but he always sank into depression when he realised that obviously over the course of years this "source of life" would run dry For Berg Bruno Cempirek was probably the most important person in his life After graduating from high school Cempirek moved to Prague which limited their contact to correspondence and occasional visits during which they organised private "Festivals of New Humour". Even though their life styles diverged over the course of time their correspondence continued up to Bergs death After high school Josef Berg studied composition at Brno Conservatory as a pupil of Vilem Petrzelka. Concurrently he studied musicology musicology, systematized study of music and musical style, particularly in the realm of historical research. The scholarly study of music of different historical periods was not practiced until the 18th cent., and few published efforts were rigorously researched. at the University in Bruon There he began to study Leos Janacek's theory in which he became an expert. For Berg, Leos Janacek was the first paradigm for a composer, and in fact he seemed to be the only one. During his Conservatory studies Berg became familiar with modernism in music thanks to the very good archive founded during the time of the First Republic (1918-1939). He learned about Debussy, Schonberg, Stravinskij and the members of the Pansian "Les Six Les Six is a name, inspired by The Five, given in 1923 by critic Henri Collet in an article titled ‘Les cinq russes, les six français et M. Satie’ (Comoedia ". He was educated in the style of late romantic music which was this teachers' language of expression. Here he also met his contemporaries--Milos Istvan and Alois Pinos who later became his close firneds. After a short period of enchantment with the communist ideology (1948-53) he left the communist party Communist party, in China Communist party, in China, ruling party of the world's most populous nation since 1949 and most important Communist party in the world since the disintegration of the USSR in 1991. as well as his regular job of a radio producer and he became a freelance composer earning and living mostly on incidental music incidental music Music composed to accompany a play. The practice dates back to ritualistic Greek drama, and it is thus connected to the use of music in other kinds of ritual. . In 1968 he organized the "Group A" (together with Istvan Pinos and other Brno composers), an attempt at an independent association of composers and musicologists A musicologist is someone who studies musicology. An ethnomusicologist is someone who studies ethnomusicology; a zoomusicologist is someone who studies zoomusicology. He also formed a unique orchestra called "Studio autoru" (Studio of Composers). His life was devoted to the creativity of mostly private character which still waits for discovery. Jose Berg died after a long illness February 26, 1971. Because of his enormous sensitivity Berg began to follow strange interests which were considered odd by his contemporaries to say the least These interests represented the starting points for his own concept of art Berg's orientation towards the past which found expression in his interest in disappearing dialects reading old newspapers and magazines collecting various historical curiosities and in particular a special interest in 18Th century Czech classical music communicated the nostalgic orientation he had felt since his childhood Reflecting some folk publications of ancient Greek Noun 1. Ancient Greek - the Greek language prior to the Roman Empire Greek, Hellenic, Hellenic language - the Hellenic branch of the Indo-European family of languages legends later mentioned in many of his texts his experiences from childhood transformed into a deep interest in the ancient world Ancient world themes were quite common in Brno circles thanks to the work of the composer Jan Novak who was the most distinctive musical figure during the post war period in Brno Jan Novak was also a big promoter of Latin and he supplied his colleagues with a wealth of neo-Latin poetry Though there were differences among Brno's composers and their approaches towards ancient themes each approached antiquity from the outside from the position of the contemporary artist and used it as a source of inspiration to be dealt with through original modern means For Berg however antiquity (in fact just the Greek) became an important part of his personal poetics He approached it somehow from the inside and tred to understand its means of expression and to assume them into his creative arsenal An example the parodied metrical met·ri·cal adj. 1. Of, relating to, or composed in poetic meter: metrical verse; five metrical units in a line. 2. Of or relating to measurement. prosody prosody: see versification. prosody Study of the elements of language, especially metre, that contribute to rhythmic and acoustic effects in poetry. in his opera The Return of Odysseus (1962) His Homer like pathos of expression was very unusual in the sixties He was looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. a kind of model to give shape to his "new rhapsody (1) A subscription-based online music service from RealNetworks that gives users unlimited access to a vast library of major and independent label music. Within a single interface, Rhapsody provides access to streaming music, Internet radio and extensive music information and feature" Antiquity inspired Berg and played an important role mostly in the early and middle period of his work and culminated in the opera Butrides in Front of the Gates of Thymenae (1964) Homer-like pathos penetrated many of his texts even those which were not linked with antiquity and we can say that especially at the beginning of Berg's composing this was one of the substantial characteristics of his style His admiration for ancient culture however gradually began to interfere with his critical thinking "Antiquity--it was thousands of slaughtered oxes all those aftars had to stink appallingly of blood Bruno Cempirek used to say to him. In the course of time Josef Berg accepted Brechts demythologizing conception of history and in his chamber opera The Return of Odysseus (1962) he unmasked this famous hero interpreting him as a killer carrying the weight of crime. Josef Berg was a real character in many respects One of the strange hobbies of this peaceful man was his collection of documents concerning terrorism fascism and violence which he studied with never ending and unbelieving astonishment regarding human nature He also wrote a theatre piece entitled History of Assassination Assassination, the murder of an opponent or well-known public figure, is one of the oldest tools of power struggles, as well as the expression of certain psychopathic disorders. It dates back to the earliest governments and tribal structures of the world. (1966) which depicts the world full of terrorists. It's a rather funny play but tends when the actors hide and the audience sees only guns leveled at them to the sound of time bombs in spite of his humoristic style there are some moments which sound from our perspective rather serious On one of his advertisements we find "an underdeveloped country is looking for a skilful skil·ful adj. Chiefly British Variant of skillful. skilful or US skillful Adjective having or showing skill skilfully or US and inventive organizer of terrorist actions. Josef Berg was rated among the protagonists of Czech New Music and he himself did not hesitate to defend it with aggressive articles in spite of this fact his relationship towards New Music was rather ambivalent Already from his youth he had accepted modern art in its entirety from a critical distance it is interesting however that in concept he came close to the ideas of New Music long before his actual exposure to New Music and thanks to this fact it was not so radical discovery for him as it was for other Czech composers
tr.v. en·chant·ed, en·chant·ing, en·chants 1. To cast a spell over; bewitch. 2. To attract and delight; entrance. See Synonyms at charm. by rational compositional processes towards which he was already heading on his personal winding path Berg did not come to terms with modern he abstract art in his conclusions he insisted that music is never abstract He never gave up his traditionally conceived striving for musical depiction and basically romantic programme music On the other hand his intellect forced him to think about various compositional techniques methods processes and concepts that appeared in his notes much more frequently than spontaneous musical inspirations Thus he lived in permanent tension between two sources (spontaneous improvisation versus rational calculation) and two aims (emotional stream versus elaborated structure) The final form of his music was created in this oscillation Oscillation Any effect that varies in a back-and-forth or reciprocating manner. Examples of oscillation include the variations of pressure in a sound wave and the fluctuations in a mathematical function whose value repeatedly alternates above and below some (trembling trembling visible muscle tremor caused by fever, fear, weakness, electrolyte imbalance, especially hypocalcemia and hypomagnesemia, and neuromuscular disease. trembling disease as he used to say ). Bergs own aesthetics originated in astonishments' When observing the world he remains struck not only by the obvious absurdities of human action but he is also inspired by the archaic forms in which he feels joy from primary qualities - movement colour sound One of his lists of sources. the bounds of craft and mechanical technique fireworks fireworks: see pyrotechnics. fireworks Explosives or combustibles used for display. Of ancient Chinese origin, fireworks evidently developed out of military rockets and explosive missiles and accompanied the spread of military explosives westward to toy barometer tableau vivant tableau vi·vant n. pl. tab·leaux vi·vants A scene presented on stage by costumed actors who remain silent and motionless as if in a picture. Christmas tree Christmas tree Evergreen tree, usually decorated with lights and ornaments, to celebrate the Christmas season. The use of evergreen trees, wreaths, and garlands as symbols of eternal life was common among the ancient Egyptians, Chinese, and Hebrews. Holy Mass rite of lovers advance (Shklovski) execution haunted house A haunted house is defined as building that is believed to be a center for supernatural occurrences or paranormal phenomena.[1] A haunted house may contain ghosts, poltergeists, or even malevolent entities. waxworks wax·work n. 1. The art of modeling in wax. 2. A figure made of wax, especially a life-size wax effigy of a famous person. 3. waxworks (used with a sing. or pl. festive march gathering musical picture astronomical clock See under Clock. A clock of superior construction, with a compensating pendulum, etc., to measure time with great accuracy, for use in astronomical observatories; - called a regulator when used by watchmakers as a standard for regulating timepieces. Christmas creche (unmoving with music and also mechanical) puppet theatre (all types) shadow theatre panorama peep hole purkynels cinema kaleidoscope kaleidoscope (kəlī`dəskōp), optical instrument that uses mirrors to produce changing symmetrical patterns. Invented by the Scottish physicist Sir David Brewster in 1816, the device is usually a hand-held tube, a few inches to as much grotesque music for silent movies orchestrion or·ches·tri·on also or·ches·tri·na n. A large mechanical instrument resembling a barrel organ that produces sound in imitation of an orchestra. [orchestr(a) + (melod)eon.] archaisms (New Humour grotesque collage) archaic period The name Archaic Period is given by archaeologists to the earliest periods of a culture. In particular, it may refer to:
eternally beloved archaisms (circus clowns horoscope horoscope: see astrology. horoscope Astrological chart showing the positions of the sun, moon, and planets in relation to the signs of the zodiac at a specific time. relics there anything else?) silent film folk-play Epiphany Epiphany (ĭpĭf`ənē) [Gr.,=showing], a prime Christian feast, celebrated Jan. 6, called also Twelfth Day or Little Christmas. Its eve is Twelfth Night. Christmas carol wedding folk-customs shop-sign naive art naive art also called outsider art Work of artists in sophisticated societies who lack or reject formal training. Naive artists, not to be confused with hobbyists, create with the same passion as trained artists but without formal knowledge of methods. sensation sale of patent articles Technical Museum (archaic age of machines) speech archaisms All these phenomena were the breeding ground from which is work was to grow. They refer to the child's sense of enchantment which Berg kept throughout his life and which he resisted giving up Contrary to utopian visions of the avant-garde looking optimistically into the future all these sources of inspiration cherished by Berg lie under the veil of nostalgia These archaisms relics and "outdated remnants" - according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Picabials instructions - were changed over the course of time into a certain type of poetry With this observation Berg comes close to the aesthetic category of the traditional Japanese term sabi which designates the changes in human work caused by nature and time. As an antipode an·ti·pode n. A direct or diametrical opposite: "We just sit and listen to the fullness of the quiet, as an antipode to focused busyness" Kathryn A. Knox. to the coldness and desolation of the modern especially abstraction and experimentation the RETURN TO THE HEART leads not towards great art but towards eternal archaic and primitive creations Thus Berg seems to put himself in conflict with modern art in fact the sense and goal of every new work of art is an endeavour to get to the roots of creativity to the original foundation of art, to the heart to the eternal archaic creations etc Berg didn't realize that modern abstract art was itself a departure from the renowned patterns of `great art' by searching for support in so called primitive expression of various types and provenance The only distinction between Berg and modern artists was in the choice of particular sources from eternal and archaic creations However Berg is credited with searching for his archaic sources independently of the trends of the period in this respect he truly tried to beat his own path. Berg's creative poetics had developed over time He moved from neo-primitivistic folkloric beginnings (anticipating the later New simplicity New Simplicity (in German, die neue Einfachheit) was a stylistic tendency amongst some of the younger generation of German composers in the late 1970s and early 1980s, reacting against not only the European avant garde of the 1950s and 1960s, but also against the broader ) towards more sophisticated methods and techniques With these he filled his note books As notes they usually served him as a springboard for his compositions the logic of which is not that easy to follow Each composition was regularly created on the basis of an entire verbally formulated concept for which he tried to find various techniques. We will discuss here the following categories invented by Berg as a part of his modus operand The part of a machine instruction that references data or a peripheral device. In the instruction, ADD A to B, A and B are the operands (nouns), and ADD is the operation code (verb). In the instruction READ TRACK 9, SECTOR 32, track and sector are the operands. It is important to remind the reader that Bergs meanings for these terms often differ from conventional meanings. 1) analogies 2) fragment composition 3) dependencies 4) materialization of the `heutral' 5) phase composition His ANALOGIES actually used romantic Tonmalerer for a musical description of entirely unromantic facts fragment composition is a compositional technique notably reminiscent of the brick construction method of Eric Satie (and anticipating Stockhausen's "Formelkamposition) According to Berg's original idea even a short melodic line or harmonic progression harmonic progression: see progression. is divided into fragments that become the initial material and the basis of composition. These fragments are used in transpositions augmentations and diminutions possibly also as slightly different variants but they preserve the characteristic shape Combinations of 'fragments' are very rich and can bring about quite interesting results Another compositional method which he suggested he named artificial DEPENDENCIES in musical material certain elements are joined together and these always appear together in a certain 'dependence'. Berg took delight in inventing very refined dependences the system for which is imperceptible im·per·cep·ti·ble adj. 1. Impossible or difficult to perceive by the mind or senses: an imperceptible drop in temperature. 2. it is very difficult to prove whether or not he actually used these in his work. Berg was unconsciously bound to Satie through the technique which Berg called "materialisation of the neutral". Satie usually started his compositions with short passages of a tour-voice "chorale chorale (kōrăl`, –räl`), any of the traditional hymns of the German Protestant Church. The form was developed after the Reformation to replace the plainsong of the earlier service and as a means of congregational participation in ". These were in fact small harmonic exercises usually in whole notes with careful calligraphy calligraphy (kəlĭg`rəfē) [Gr.,=beautiful writing], skilled penmanship practiced as a fine art. See also inscription; paleography. European Calligraphy In Europe two sorts of handwriting came into being very early. , that were gradually modified and ornamented and formed the initial material of the composition. Similarly the "neutral" signified for Berg a harmonic idea that "materialised" through various rhythms type-setting ornamentation ornamentation In music, the addition of notes for expressive and aesthetic purposes. For example, a long note may be ornamented by repetition or by alternation with a neighboring note (“trill”); a skip to a nonadjacent note can be filled in with the intervening and variation The result obtained through this process could again be considered "neutral", something which could then undergo further operations. A quite interesting principle was phase composition The original idea (1958) consisted of the transposition transposition /trans·po·si·tion/ (trans?po-zish´un) 1. displacement of a viscus to the opposite side. 2. of certain elementary graphic forms into sound The heart of this principle was the idea of using various co-ordinates for separate "phases" so that the sound could take on endless forms This principle was more or less derived from late romantic monothematism and Berg devoted a lot of time to its theoretical elaboration He used as always in his private theories very poetic metaphoric language This rather inspirational text requires proper explanation A special feature of Berg's taste was his dislike for the 'modern rich sound'. His fondness to archaisms and the past would not let him accept results to which he was led by his curiosity and logic. Therefore he quite paradoxically tried to apply his unusual techniques to very trivial material His ideal was classical sound and his music souds rather "neoclassical ne·o·clas·si·cism also Ne·o·clas·si·cism n. A revival of classical aesthetics and forms, especially: a. A revival in literature in the late 17th and 18th centuries, characterized by a regard for the classical ideals of reason, form, " -- in spite of the fact that he never used classical forms -- and his imagination was markedly different from the composers of the 'neoclassical group' His lecture (with Alois Pinos Darmstadt 1966) describing his view of new music theatre was received with enthusiasm Following the screening of the television film The Return of Ulysses (1962) the same audience was left completely bewildered Unfortunately for Berg his lack of success was in large part due to the fact that performing musicians misunderstood his music and performed it too conventionally. His music still awaits interpreters with proper insight and commitment |
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